


He Seems to Like Me

by tabbytabbytabby



Series: Sterek Prompts [18]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Awesome Sheriff Stilinski, Deputy Derek Hale, Deputy Stiles Stilinski, Derek is a Softie, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, Happy Derek, I'm Bad At Summaries, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, SO MUCH FLUFF, Stiles Has Cats, They're partners, mentioned Cora Hale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 17:20:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12085695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: Stiles has 2 cats, Merlin and Rory. Merlin loves people. Rory is a little more shy and avoids anyone that isn't Stiles. Which is why it's so surprising when Rory starts greeting Derek at the door.





	He Seems to Like Me

**Author's Note:**

> From [this](http://queentabithapendragon.tumblr.com/post/165301954003/otp-imagines-cult-imagine-person-a-has-two-cats) prompt: "Imagine Person A has two cats. One loves people, and the other is extremely shy. Person B comes over one day, and the shy cat runs up to them with glee."  
> This has not been beta read so any mistakes are my own. I wrote this on my iPad without limited light since my power was out because of the hurricane so there might be some. If you see any please point them out.

Stiles doesn’t pay much attention to his cat’s behavior when he introduces them to Derek, apart from making sure they don’t growl, hiss, or try to attack him. Not that they would. They’re reasonably well behaved and used to being around werewolves thanks to Scott. Stiles knows what they’re like by now. Merlin loves everyone mostly. He’ll watch people for all about 5 minutes before deeming them worthy and the he’s all up in their space demanding love and attention.

Rory though is something else. It’s hard to believe the two of them were born from the same litter. Rory hides the moment someone new comes into the house, especially if they’re male. Stiles knows he’s partially at fault for that. Not himself specifically, just the poor behavior of the men Stiles let into his life, or rather into his apartment during his college years. It had only taken a few parties before Stiles saw someone drunkenly stumble onto Rory’s tail and then _laugh_ about it before Stiles decided enough was enough and there were no more parties at Casa Stiles. That was fine with him. He didn’t like cleaning up other people’s messes anyway. And if Stiles stopped partying altogether after that, choosing to stay home and watch movies or study, well that was his business and no one else’s. Rory had been warier of men after that. He hid, tenses whenever someone got too close too soon, and he had a particular aversion to shoes.

Scott had been a little insulted the first time he visited and Rory had hidden from him, used to most animals loving him instantly. Years later, Rory is still a little wary around Scott, only letting the wolf come near him when Stiles is around and even then, it’s on _his_ terms. Scott has just learned to accept it as normal Rory behavior. He’s even made a joke saying that Stiles owns a cat version of Derek. Stiles had scoffed and told Scott to stop picking on him. He never specified whether the _him_ he was referring to had been Rory or Derek. He doubts it matters.

Even the Sheriff had pointed out how the two were similar, but he had seemed more fond than anything. Joking that it was cute that Stiles had a cat that has a similar personality to the man Stiles has been pining after for years. He’d quickly stopped the subject when Stiles threatened to only feed him salad for lunch for a month. The look on Stiles’ face had shown just how serious he was and the Sheriff wasn’t about to test it. It didn’t matter that Stiles was away at college at the time, his son had influence in Beacon Hills. He didn’t really want to figure out just how far that influence spread.

Still, Stiles couldn’t deny the similarities himself. At least until Stiles moves back to Beacon Hills after college. Derek shows up at his new apartment the next day with pizza, offering to help Stiles unpack. He even pulls Stiles in for a hug the moments his hands are free, burying his face in Stiles’ neck. Stiles hugs him back tightly, not wanting to waste the opportunity when it’s presenting itself. He doesn't even try to stop the “I missed you” from escaping his lips.

He barely catches it when Derek mumbles the same thing against his neck, only because Derek’s lips brush against his skin when he speaks causing Stiles to be momentarily distracted by the feeling.

When the words finally register, Stiles pulls back far enough to smack Derek’s arm. “You could have visited, you know?”

Derek ducks his head, looking sheepish. And if that isn’t a new sight. “I didn’t know if I was welcome.”

Stiles gaps, “You didn’t…? What the hell Derek? We’re friends! We’re _pack_. Of course you would have been welcome.”

“You were at college!” Derek says, “You were living your life away from here. I didn’t want…” Derek sighs, shaking his head, “It’s not like you invited me to visit.”

“I _did_ though. I invited the pack, you included. I even sent you individual invites outside the group. Which knowing you, you probably took as me feeling obligated to invite you or some shit. Which is bullshit, by the way. But when you never showed I thought that meant you didn’t want to be there. That you decided you didn’t want anything to do with me, at least not in person.” Stiles tells him. Because while Derek hadn’t visited him they’d still talked. Over text, despite Derek saying he hated it. Over Facebook, even though Derek had at first refused to get one. Even over Skype sometimes, which Stiles knew he only had downloaded to talk to Cora. So Stiles knew Derek still wanted to talk to him. He just wouldn’t visit. Now Stiles has a pretty good idea why.

“We’ve both been idiots, haven’t’ we?”

Stiles nods, “We have.  But now we can fix it. Now why don’t we eat that pizza before it gets cold?”

“Uhh Stiles?”

Stiles whirls around at the hesitation in Derek’s voice, laughing when he sees Merlin rubbing against his legs. “I see Merlin has decided to say hello.”

“Merlin?” Derek asks, deciding it’s safe to bend down and pet the cat. He’s rewarded by the cat purring and nudging Derek’s hand with his face. “You have a cat?”

“Two.” Stiles tells him, gesturing over his shoulder to where Rory is peeking his head around the wall to stare at Derek. That’s more than he does for most people. “Rory’s a bit shy.”

Derek glances over to where Stiles is pointing. “Let me guess, Doctor Who.”

Stiles beams at him, “Hell yeah! Most people assume it’s from Gilmore Girls.”

“I know you’ve watched Gilmore Girls but I also know how obsessed you are with Doctor Who.” Derek stands up and slowly starts walking into the kitchen. He pauses when he sees Rory watching his feet and takes his shoes off, hiding them from view.

“How’d you know?” Stiles asks, waving a hand towards Derek’s socked feet.

Derek shrugs, “I could see him watching my feet and his heartbeat sped up. It wasn’t hard to figure out.”

“Most people don’t get it.”

Derek grins at him as he takes the plate of pizza Stiles offers. “I’m not most people.”

Stiles gives him a considering look, “No, you’re really not.”

*

Them hanging out becomes a regular thing after that. Derek winds up spending more time at Stiles’ place than he does at his own. That and the fact that they’re both deputies at the Beacon Hills Sherriff’s Department means they’re almost always together. Especially since they _somehow_ wind up being partners. By somehow Stiles means he knows his Dad is to blame, no matter how much the man denies it. He’s the Sherriff though, it’s part of his _job_ to assign partners. Of course it was his fault. Stiles doesn’t mind. He loves spending time with Derek. It’s just that the more time he spends with Derek the harder it is for him to hide his feelings.

What he doesn’t expect is for his Dad to get fed up one day and tell him why he made them partners. “Damn it Stiles, Derek requested to be your partner, are you happy now?”

Stiles just gapes until his Dad pushes him out of the office and shuts the door in his face. He’s still standing there when Derek appears, keys in hand, ready for patrol. Stiles, for his part, last about 5 minutes before he breaks and says something to Derek. “Did you request to have me as your partner?”

Derek glances over at him before turning his eyes back to the road. “Yes. I thought you knew that.”

“Uhh no. I didn’t,” Stiles says, debating if he should ask why. Of course, his curiosity gets the better of him and he just has to ask, “why? Why did you request it?”

Stiles can see Derek raise an eyebrow, though he keeps his eyes on the road. At least until he pulls over and parks the car, allowing him the opportunity to turn and look at Stiles. Stiles almost wishes he’d kept driving. “Because I trust you more than I trust anyone else. We’ve always had each other’s backs before, I didn’t think it would be different now. And I thought you’d want to be my partner. If I was wrong…”

“You weren’t wrong!” Stiles rushes to cut him off before he can continue, “I just thought my Dad put us together. I didn’t realize it was you who asked. I’m glad you did though. Honest. I feel safer with you as my partner than I would with anyone else, no offense to the other deputies. We just… work well together.”

“I know we do,” Derek says, “Not a lot of people would be able to handle us for long.”

“Especially me,” Stiles says, giving Derek a self-depreciating smile.

“You’ve mellowed out a lot since college Stiles. Anyone would be lucky to have you as their partner.” Derek squeezes Stiles’ shoulder before turning back to face the road, putting the car into drive. “I just think we understand each other better than other people do.”

“And we’ve gotten used to each other.” Stiles grins.

Derek smirks, “That too.”

*

Derek is over enough that the cats get used to having him around. Merlin loves him, of course. Stiles has lost count of how many times Merlin has ignored Stiles calling for him and went right to Derek instead. Stiles always just rolls his eyes, too happy that they’re getting along to be annoyed. Rory comes out more often as he’s gotten used to Derek being around. He’s not as loving as Merlin, but he doesn’t run and hide either.

Stiles trusts Derek with the cats so much that it’s Derek that he asks to look in on them when he has to go out of town for a week. He hates it but his Dad had insisted that Stiles be the one to go to the conference. Stiles is almost certain that it’s just because his Dad doesn’t want to go himself.

Having Derek watching the cats eases his worries. Derek sends him pictures when he checks in on the cats so Stiles knows they’re okay and can see what they’re up to. Stiles’ favorite is the one Derek sends of him and Merlin with the caption “ _Miss you!”_

If Stiles uses that as Derek’s picture for when he calls no one else needs to know.

Stiles is baffled when Derek comes over the day after he gets back from his trip and Rory runs up to Derek, meowing and purring as he rubs against Derek’s legs. Derek just smiles and reaches down to pet the cat before Rory runs off again. Things only get weirded after that. Rory continues to greet Derek at the door but always runs off right after. Sometimes Rory will plant himself between Stiles and Derek on the couch now too. Stiles doesn’t question it, not wanting to break whatever spell Rory might be under.

Stiles finally has to break his silence a few weeks later during one of their weekly pizza nights when he notices something that makes him think he’s seeing things, hallucinating, whatever. Because what he’s seeing cannot be real.

“Dude, what the hell?” Stiles asks, staring baffled at the sight in front of him. Derek is sitting on the couch with Rory on his lap and the cat is purring. Actually _purring_.

Derek shrugs, face sheepish. “He seems to like me.”

“Yeah that’s one word for it,” Stiles says, staring at the scene with wide eyes, still not convinced he’s not imaging it. “But _how_? How did this happen?”

“We worked up to it,” Derek tells him, “I started sticking my hand out when he walked by giving him the opportunity to sniff it and get used to my smell. Then we worked up to him allowing me to pet his head. Then there was that week you were out of town and had me look in on them.”

Stiles gapes, trying to ignore the warmth spreading through him at the sight. “Are you telling me you _bonded_ with my cat while I was out of town?”

Derek smiles, petting Rory on the side of his face in his favorite spot. The cat purrs louder in response, pushing into Derek’s hand. “I guess you could say we’ve gotten close.”

“He loves you,” Stiles says, his voice conveying the awe that must be written on his face.

Derek grins up at him, “He has good taste.”

Stiles doesn’t respond, surprising them both when he grabs the front of Derek’s shirt and hauls him up far enough to kiss him. Derek only hesitates for a moment before he’s fitting a hand through Stiles’ hair and pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. The kiss is frantic, full of years of pent up emotion and longing between them. Stiles moans, trying to climb onto Derek’s lap, forgetting the cat already occupying the spot. That is until there’s a startled meow from between them. Both watch as Rory jumps off Derek’s lap, looking at them briefly, before taking of down the hallway.

Stiles laughs and looks back at Derek to find him wearing a similar expression, “So that happened.”

Derek nods, rubbing circles on Stiles hip. “It did.”

“What are the chances of it happening again?”

“I’d say pretty good.”

“Oh yeah?”

Derek’s lips twitch slightly though he tries to keep his face serious. “Yeah. I have grown fond of your cat.”

Stiles plays with the hem of Derek’s shirt just to have something to do with his hands, feeing slightly nervous as he looks up at Derek through his lashes. “And how do you feel about the owner?”

“He’s alright,” Derek’s smile softens as he brings a hand up to Stiles’ cheek. “More than alright. Pretty amazing actually. In fact, I’d say I’m pretty in love with him.”

When Stiles speaks, his voice comes out slightly strangled. “ _Derek_ … you… really?”

Derek nods, face solemn. “I’m afraid so. I’m in love you Stiles. It’s pretty serious.”

Stiles laughs, feeling suddenly light as he meets Derek’s eyes. “Good. That’s good. Because I’m seriously in love with you too.”

Derek smiles, running his nose along Stiles’ cheek. “Whatever are we going to do about that?”

Stiles’ answering smirk stirs something low in Derek’s gut, “I can think of a few things.”

This time, when Stiles kiss him Derek is ready. It’s easy, the way they come together. Like this is something they’ve been doing for years rather than just a few minutes. The two of them have always been quick at figuring each other out in everything else. It shouldn’t be surprising that this is the same.

Stiles’ gasp turns into a moan when Derek slips Stiles onto his back, quickly covering Stiles’ body with his own, and starts placing biting kisses on his neck. Derek isn’t surprised when Stiles still finds the ability to speak. “Just so you know, me and the cats are a packaged deal.”

Derek stares down at him for a moment before a grin covers his face. “I think I can live with that.”

**Author's Note:**

> So both cats behavior is loosely based off my own cats because I saw the prompt and immediately thought of them. Thanks for reading! Kudos/Comments make my day <3  
> [Send me some prompts](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/) (:


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